Article by
Barbados Today

Published on
May 29, 2015

The US head of a Brazilian sports marketing company pleaded not guilty in a New York court today to bribery-related charges, one of 14 people indicted on federal corruption charges that have rocked the soccer world’s governing body, FIFA.

Aaron Davidson, 44, head of Traffic Group’s US unit in Miami, is accused of arranging millions of dollars to secure lucrative media and marketing rights for soccer matches. The owner of Traffic Group, José Hawilla, has already pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy, obstruction of justice and other charges.

Davidson appeared before Magistrate Judge Cheryl Pollak in Brooklyn federal court. She set his next appearance for July 17.

Prosecutors accused Davidson of securing contracts worth more than $35 million for the Traffic Group unit he ran and of arranging bribes for Jeffrey Webb, a vice president of FIFA.

An indictment announced on Wednesday named four other business executives and nine officials of FIFA.

Seven of the 14 defendants, including Webb, were arrested by Swiss authorities in Zurich. Former FIFA vice president Jack Warner surrendered to police in Trinidad and Tobago on Wednesday.

A judge in Argentina has ordered the arrest of three businessmen accused of using bribery to obtain soccer media rights, and the Brazilian Senate has moved to open a formal inquiry into soccer bribery allegations.